Thanksgiving and a Chinese miracle

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Hi Everyone!

 This week has been a fantastic one. We have seen so many incredible miracles and had a lot of blessings  from Heavenly Father. With it being Thanksgiving this  past week, it has been easy  to recognize blessings and be grateful for them. 

Speaking  of Thanksgiving,  our members  spoiled us this week! We went over to the Bishop's and helped make dinner  there for a bunch of single people in  our ward who didn't have places to go. The food was amazing! Then we went to another get together with with a large extended family that is in our ward. We got to visit them and meet a bunch of new people that we hadn't yet. Such a neat  opportunity. Then after that, we were able to visit a lady in  the ward who didn't have any family to be with. We just visited with her and ate some leftover pie we had brought. So basically Thanksgiving was an awesome day!

 

Something else cool that happened is I was able to find a Chinese investigator! Crazy right ? I mean, we are in Maryville Missouri.  But we went to this  Chinese / Sushi restaurant and I heard a couple of the workers there speak with a Chinese accent. I finally got the courage to go up to one of them and ask if they spoke  Chinese. She got so excited and we just started chatting. Then she had to go to another table and I thought that was the end of it. But NO! She brought another lady over, and then more workers came so I had about 5 people around me, all speaking Chinese! It was really crazy and so cool at the same time.  I was able to explain to them how and why I learned  Chinese and also was able to  set up appointments with two of them! Such a cool experience. 

At Sacrament meeting this week,  one of our newest investigators came. We were so excited! He brought his grandsons with him and they loved Primary. This man, named Jerry, (I may have mentioned him last week) has pioneer ancestors and knows a lot about LDS history, but doesn't really know what be believe.  We are excited to continue teaching hin and his family. :) 

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit Adam-Ondi-Ahman! (For those of you who don't know, this was a site that early pioneers came to live and we also believe that Christ will return there before the 2nd coming) The scenery is so beautiful and it was a very spiritual place. I have loved being able to visit some Church Historic Sites while I have been here. I really builds my testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Also, if you haven't heard of "Light the World" yet from the various posts on Facebook,  then LOOK IT UP! It is a way to serve in "25 days in 25 ways!" There are cute little videos for everyday and it gives different  ways to serve. Really cool way  to be in Christmas spirit throughout the whole  month :) 

Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

The picture of the rock is where Joseph Smith would stand and speak to the saints in Adam-Ondi-Ahman! So neat :) 

Happy Thanksgiving

Our apartment being freezing so we huddle around the heater

Us trying on hats we found at the food bank

One of our members as a mini orange tree in their house! SO COOL! 

Hi Everyone! 

   Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a great time and can enjoy the Thanksgiving spirit this week. 

   We have had lots of amazing and fun things happen this week. First was last Monday, we had dinner with a member named Brother Draper. He invited us over to his house and made us this HUGE dinner. He is so sweet and he loves having the missionaries over. We then all gathered in the living room and be brought out his guitar. We sang hymns and played all these cool songs for us. It was so neat! We shared a message with him and he was very involved and accepted our commitment to him without any hesitation. It was nice to have our little Family Home Evening with him.

   Something we have been really focusing on this week is working with members to further missionary work in our area. This week, that focus paid off! One of the members in our ward, Brother Goff, invited us over to teach some family friends of his. Their whole family came and we taught them all about the Restoration. They have been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we are meeting with them again tomorrow! I have high hopes for them. When members help their friends come into the gospel, it is so much easier that strangers coming in to teach! 

   Another cool thing that happened was went to contact a former investigator in our area book, and he let us come right in. Turns out, he has a lot of Pioneer heritage and knows a lot about the history of our church! But he doesn't know much about what we believe. He agreed to meet with us and then came to church on Sunday as well! SO cool. 

   We also had the chance to do some service in another area. We helped a family pack herbs on their farm. We did it with our entire District so I got to know the Elders a little better. Then on the way back, we had the cliche service opportunity....we stopped and helped a old lady rake her leaves :) It was so fun to talk to her and she was so surprised we stopped and helped. Then she was more surprised that we wouldn't accept the money she offered us. It felt good to do something with no other motive than to serve. 

    Last thing is that we are continuing to teach our investigator named Cassie. She has so much faith and is basically living the way LDS people live, but she isn't baptized. She invited us right in and made us this amazing hot chocolate. She is our age and she loves having us over. She reads the Book of Mormon everyday and is progressing so fast! The Lord really does lead us to the people we need to see. We have had so many miracles and I know that as we continue to work hard, even more will come our way. 

    Well, I love you all and hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! 

Sister Meeks

Don't forget about the awesome blog my mom has set up! 

https://adventuresofisistermeeks.blogspot.com/  

The Lord will always bless us

Hi Friends and Family! 

   I've almost been out on my mission for 3 months! Seems like the time as just flown by! It's crazy to think how long 18 months is but also how short it is. I know the time will go so fast and I'm so happy that I could have this amazing opportunity. 

   This week was full of crazy experiences! But the biggest miracle came at 8:40 at night! It was freeeezzzzzzinnnnggggg and we were about to head home but we decided to just knock one more door. A college aged girl opened the door and invited us in! She explained that she was raised Catholic but recently as become more Athiest. She says she relies on science instead of God. After talking a few minutes, she said that she felt good talking to us and "If you can convince me, then I'll keep listening to you." I was thinking, "Oh just you wait, we can 100% convince you." I know she felt the spirit and I'm so grateful that we decided to be perfectly obedient and stay out as long as we could. God really does bless those who are obedient and we can see miracles because of it! 

    It was Sister Moreno's Birthday this week and we got to have lots of fun! The Galberiath family had us over for dinner and made us a giant leaf pile to jump in! They have 9 children so dinner is always so much fun and complete chaos. We got some more treats/surprises all day from different ward members. We are so blessed to be in this ward. They are so missionary minded and they are always so thoughtful. 

      A huge change this week was the implementation of smartphones and Facebook into our mission! This has been good but very much different. Everyone talks about how missionaries are taken out of the world for 2 years or 18 months but this brings all of those temptations right back in! And we have access to them all the time. It's crazy how much the Lord trusts us to do His work. We have already seen miracles happen from using this amazing blessing. The Lord is ready to push is work forward and social media is a tool to help accomplish that! I'm so excited to serve the Lord is the new way

      The last thing is a new thing I've started this past week. I started to write in a 'Gratitude Journal.' I think about my day, and then write something I am grateful for in the book! It has really helped me notice the little things and made me appreciate everything on my mission that helps me succeed. Love it so much and encourage you all to do the same :) 

      Also, my mother is WONDERFUL and created an incredible blog to document my adventures. She did an amazing job so you should all check it out ! The link is 

https://adventuresofisistermeeks.blogspot.com/2017/10/

Hope you all have a good week! 

Sister Meeks

In the Leafy Treetops

Thank heavens for nice random people who text pictures to Missionary Mamas.

And Happy Birthday pictures with all the party stuff the mama sent. :)  

Happy Halloween

Three Peas in a Pod for Halloween. 

Hello Friends and Family! 

Happy Halloween everyone! It's crazy that October is already gone. Time flies so fast while you're on the mission. It's kinda crazy! Days are long but weeks and months go by very very fast. 

We had a lot of little miracles this week. It's amazing to see the Lord's hand in everyday actions. The first thing that happened is we had some information on a guy who wanted to take the lessons but that was all we had. We found his address and went to knock on his door. In the apartment building, all the doors were really close and after we knocked, the guy next door opened his door! We talked to him, gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to church. AND he came on Sunday! His name is Miles and he is awesome. I hope that we get to see him more. 

The next thing that happened is we went to visit the Wixom's, a part-member family. The mom opened the door and she is the mom who isn't a member. But surprising she invited us in. We taught her the first lesson and she agreed to start meeting with us! The spirit was so strong and I could tell she wanted to learn. I am so excited for her! 

Halloween was also fun this week! We couldn't technically dress up but we all got the same green shirt and did our hair the same...so we're "Three Peas in a Pod!" Cute right?? We got to serve a lot that day and we got to talk to a lot of parents who were taking their kids trick-or-treating. 

Last thing is I got to give a training in my District Meeting on personal conversion. It was so neat to study and then help other people come closer to Christ. I love my District and they are always so kind and loving. We have Senior Missionaries in our district as well and it's like I have grandparents on the mission! SO COOL! 

But I love you all and am so thankful for all the support I receive. It really helps me a lot and gets me through the week :) 

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Sister Meeks

P.S. My mission is now using Facebook so look out for little posts here and there.

Tour of apartment

I think she may be in for a shock when she gets to Taiwan.  :)